Ramos’ three-hit night not enough as Reno falls, 8-7

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Reno Aces and the Oklahoma City Dodgers battled back and forth on Saturday night, exchanging tallies throughout the game before the Biggest Little City’s team fell, 8-7, to the host club.

Henry Ramos continued to rake at the dish, going 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored. Since July 3, the Aces’ outfielder has recorded a team-high 19 hits, 17 of which have been singles. The 29-year-old has also posted six multi-hit contests in his last seven games.

Reno moves to 39-24 on the season, remaining on a franchise-record pace to reach 40 wins.

The Dodgers jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a two-out RBI single by Yoshi Tsutsugo.

The Aces responded quickly in the top of the second with a two-spot on the board. After Henry Ramos extended his hitting streak to seven with a single to right and a Ben DeLuzio double down the left-field line, Juniel Querecuto waited on an off-speed pitch and drove a two-run base knock to left, giving Reno a 2-1 edge.

Both teams were held off the board until Oklahoma City’s Tsutsugo struck again in the bottom of the third, hitting a two-run home run to retake the lead, 3-2.

Dodgers’ Drew Avans gave the host squad a two-run advantage, 4-2, in the home half of the fourth by slapping an RBI double to left field. Oklahoma City tacked on one more run before the inning ended on a 4-6-3 double play that knocked in a runner from third and increased the lead to three, 5-2.

Oklahoma City scored once again in the bottom of the fifth to take a 6-2 edge on DJ Peters’ double with two outs.

Seth Beer rocked his Triple-A West-leading 23rd double of the season to start the sixth but was thrown out at the plate trying to score on Ramos’ single to right. Following a Jamie Ritchie base knock and a walk to DeLuzio to load the bases, Ramos sprinted down the line on a wild pitch to score and slash the Aces’ deficit to three, 6-3. After the runners moved up to second and third on the same ball in the dirt, Camden Duzenack drew a walk to load the bases once again. In just his third career pinch-hit appearance, Jose Herrera lined a two-run single to left and pulled the Aces to within one, 6-5.

Reno nearly came out of the bottom of the sixth unscathed but, the Dodgers capitalized on an Aces’ error to push its lead back to two, 7-5.

After holding the Biggest Little City’s team off the board in the top of the seventh, Oklahoma City put a one-spot on the board to take a three-tally advantage, 8-5.

Reno battled back once again and pulled to within a run, 8-7, on one swing of the bat as Christian Lopes took Justin Bruihl deep for a two-run shot in the top of the eighth.

The Dodgers nearly scored for the sixth-consecutive inning had it not been for a heads-up play by Querecuto at short. With runners on the corners to open the bottom of the eighth, Luke Raley grounded a ball to the left side toward the Aces’ shortstop, who threw a dime to the dish to catch Carlos Asuaje in a rundown before being tagged out by Lopes for a 6-2-5 putout.

DeLuzio worked a one-out walk in the ninth but the Dodgers staved off their lone baserunner and closed out the game.

Reno returns to action on Sunday against the Dodgers, with the first pitch slated for 4:05 p.m. PT. Sunday’s contest can be heard on renoaces.com or locally on KPLY 630 AM with Zack Bayrouty on the call.